Dear Parents,
Message from the Principal
I can’t believe this is only the second week of term, when I see how well children are doing.
At the Year 1 Coffee morning, parents told me how excited their children were about coming to school. I am very impressed with how quickly they have made friends and come together as a class. Our Year 1 team of teachers and TLAs have done a marvellous job of getting them organised and into routines so quickly.
Equally, at the Primary Curriculum Evening parents commented on how informative it was and how much they enjoyed listening to and meeting the class teachers. I look forward to the same experience at the Secondary Open Evening in a couple of weeks.
This week has been capped by the outstanding assembly led by 6B. Entirely chosen by themselves and performed by them, it was based on the ‘Blind Date’ programme except the purpose was to choose a mentor from history who could help you in developing your skills. It was informative, entertaining and brilliantly done. Well done to everyone involved.
In the secondary assembly today Mr Cross and the Heads of House talked about the Secondary school behavior policy and the four key words that encapsulate everything we expect of the students. The students were told that at all times they must be Ready, Responsible, Respectful and Safe. The children were also praised for the great manners shown so far this term in the corridors. Highly commended certificates were awarded this week for the students who had settled well and made a great start to the term. Highly commended were Oliver Ansell in Year 7, Caleb Heron in Year 8 and Velvet Lung in Year 9, very well done to those students.
Have a lovely weekend.
Mr Cooklin
Principal
UPCOMING EVENTS:
5 September – Pool closed until further notice
7 September – PTA Coffee Morning
7 September – Year 8 & 9 Drama Trip (The Merchant of Venice)
8 September – Mid- Autumn Festival PTA community mooncake collection
9 September – Class assembly 5D
9 September – Parent Workshop: 3D Printing: A New Type of Family Entertainment
12 September – ECAs commence
13 September – Parent Workshop: Sporting Opportunities and the ECA Sign Up Process
14 September – Secondary Open Evening
16 September – School closed for public holiday
20 September – Parent Workshop: E-safety and firefly clinic
23 September –Class assembly 4E
27 September – Parent Workshop: The House System Explained
There’s lots of information to pass on today so a bit of a long update this week I’m afraid. However please do make sure you take the time to read all the way to the bottom so you don’t miss out on anything.
PARENT WORKSHOP SERIES
We have put together an excellent series of topics this term, ranging from the practical to the inspirational!
Kicking off our workshop series on Friday, 9 September at 8.30am, is a parent of a Class 2E student, David Seto, who will explain the background of 3D printing technology and the fun you can have at home as a family with it. He will create an object using 3D modeling software live in front of us, and demonstrate how a simple desktop 3D Printer works, literally creating something from nothing!
We strongly encourage you to come along and get involved. Our hope is to educate, engage, and empower parents so that we, together, can support students in school and at home. Spaces for all workshops are limited, so sign up now by emailing ricky.auyeung@nais.hk to secure your space.
Please log into Firefly - Explore News & Insights - Parent Update to see the list of topics offered until the end of December 2016.
SECONDARY OPEN EVENING
On Wednesday 14th September, 6:00-8:00pm you are invited to meet our teaching team and find out more details about the curriculum as a whole. We will cover the pastoral aspects of Secondary life as well as plans for the future of our secondary school, including information about IGCSE Options for our Year 9 students, who will start Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11) next year.
We will finish with informal refreshments in the hall, hosted by our Pastoral team, so you can get to know your child’s House members.
Please make sure you have confirmed your attendance by emailing ricky.auyeung@nais.hk by Thursday, 8th September. If you are unable to attend, don’t worry, as the presentation will be uploaded to Firefly and the website soon after the event.
BUSES AND ECA TRANSPORTATION CONFIRMATION
Sign-up for Term 1 ECAs has now closed and you should receive confirmation of your allocation on or before Wednesday 7th September. Once you know your child’s schedule, you’ll need to inform us about the transport or pick-up arrangements for each day of the week (Monday-Friday).
Please note: All choices must be made before 9.00am on Thursday, 8 September and
confirmation of buses applies to all parents, even if you have not selected any ECAs. If you do not to select any option we will assume you are picking your child up from school at 2.45pm.
https://naishk.fireflycloud.asia/choosing-your-eca/transport-options
PTA EVENTS – DATES FOR THE DIARY!
Please log into Firefly - Explore News & Insights - Parent Update to see the exciting agenda of events the PTA are planning for the pupils, parents and families of NAIS during the school year.
PARENTS COFFEE MORNING HOSTED BY THE PTA
On Wednesday 7th September, from 7:45am to 9.00am in the school canteen, the PTA will be presenting more information about volunteer opportunities, what is involved and how to sign up. It’s also another great opportunity to meet and mingle with more parents.
If you cannot make the coffee morning on Wednesday please contact Gemma Simmonds at ptanaishk@gmail.com with your questions and interest.
MID-AUTUMN FESTIVAL PTA COMMUNITY MOONCAKE COLLECTION
In celebration of the mid-autumn festival and to reach out and support the local community, the PTA are organising a massive mooncake collection drive which we think is a great idea! To show your support we ask that you donate 1-2 individually packed traditional mooncakes at reception between 5th–7th September. We hope that you will support us in this cultural tradition and opportunity to develop an awareness of our community.
LIBRARY - PARENT VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!:
The PTA are looking for volunteers who can help and support the running of the school library during school hours.
We are looking for volunteers who can:
Details are to be confirmed once we know how many volunteers we have but we would like to aim for:
If this is something that you are interested in finding out more about, please contact Gemma Simmonds at ptanaishk@gmail.com.
MTR STUDENT TRAVEL SCHEME
The MTR has a scheme running, which entitles children to a discounted fare if they subscribe for a student MTR card. More information and the application form can be found at reception.
PICK UP AND STUDENT CARDS – NEW STUDENTS ONLY
Be on the look out for these, as your child’s class teacher will be giving them out over the course of next week.
GLOBAL GAMES ASIA (GGA)
After the success of last year’s GGA we will again be involved in this year’s GGA which will take place from 27-29th October in Hanoi, Vietnam. Our PE department will be assessing our Year 5-8 pupils to enable us to select the best teams possible to represent our school. The competition will again involve participants taking part in all three activities - Athletics, Swimming and Football. We will be looking to invite 10 boys from Years 5/6, 10 girls from Years 5/6, 10 boys from Years 7/8 and 10 girls from Years 7/8. We are very excited about the prospect of competing in this competition and making further friendships with other Nord Anglia International schools.
SECONDARY SCHOOL UNIFORM
Mr Cross (our KS3 Coordinator) would like to remind you that full secondary uniform should be worn on all days unless a student has PE. This means that on the days where pupils have lunchtime or after school ECAs, full uniform should be worn. Please email your child’s form tutor if your child is missing any uniform or cannot wear the correct uniform at any time.
SPORTS
Next week is the start of our inter-house football competition so please remember to send your child with their house tops on. From 12th September, and for the duration of the swimming pool closure, please send your child in their regular PE kit.
MUSIC LESSONS
Earlier this week, our Director of Music, Miss Rowan, sent out an email regarding instrumental lessons. In order to sign up for music lessons, you will need to fill out the Instrumental Application form and return it along with a signed copy of the Terms and Conditions and payment before 7th September 2016.
Please contact Mr. Ringo Chan, Director of PURE ORCHESTRAL CENTRE for further enquiry and details regarding the musical instruments.
Contact: 3520 2628 or email: ringochanatnais@gmail.com
Instrumental Application form can be found on Firefly - Explore News & Insights - Parent Update
PRIMARY ASSEMBLY – 6B
Class 6B gave an entertaining assembly today. Thank you 6B, Mr. Edward Fielding for organising this.
Check out our Facebook to see some great photos https://www.facebook.com/NAISHongKong/
STARS OF THE WEEK – Music
Big congratulations to the following students for being nominated by their teachers:
Year 1: Cem-Luca Erzincanli, Larvanya Varatharajah, Chloe Li, Andrea Woo, Amber Newbury
Year 2: Andrey Batomunkuev, Shekston Lee, Dave Wu, William Wang, Jack Hignett
Year 3: Heather So, Ardi Tse, Rita Zhan, Kees Espeskog, Mayu Okaguchi
Year 4: Oliver Guthrie, Evelyn Bowen, Andrew Leung, Rainie Wong, Dante Griffiths
Year 5: Trent Greco, Yuha Choi, Paarth Bhargava, Maz Hellyer, Mancy Mok
Year 6: Leon Helmersson, Sebastian Doe, Harry Lam, Zoe Yu
Year 7: Oliver Ansell
Year 8: Caleb Herron
Year 9: Velvet Lung
Photos can be found at https://www.facebook.com/NAISHongKong/
Have a great weekend!
